Lost Memories
by Ashley2323
Summary: A mysterious, oddly handicapped woman joins the Gundam pilots to help find Duo after he is kidnapped. But what is her connection to him? And what does all of this have to do with the abduction of a college professor on Earth? Read and Review PLEASE!!!! So
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: This is just something I wrote for the sole purpose of writing it. I own nothing, so if you sue me you won't get much. I don't claim to own Gundam Wing and I doubt I ever will. 

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Lost Memories

By: Ashley2323

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Prologue

__

She was standing in the middle of a crowded campsite, with her family by her side. They were all gathered together, her brothers, sister, mother and father. And they all looked so happy! They were sitting around the campfire, the light playing on their features. They were roasting marshmallows over the fire. Smiling broadly, she went to join them. Her brother handed her a stick and stuffed a marshmallow onto it for her. 

Smiling and almost drooling in anticipation for her favorite snack, she held the treat out over the dancing fire. She watched it carefully, patiently as she slowly turned it, making sure that each side was perfectly roasted until golden brown. She could almost taste it! The crisp perfectly cooked outer skin, the soft and mushy insides. By the time it was finished, she could hardly control herself. She looked over at her brother, who was hastily setting the marshmallows on fire and laughing as her other brother blew it out and scolded him. They were always so cute, her little brothers. Of course, her brother didn't pay the other any attention at all. He shoved the charred remains of the sugary snack into his mouth and went to burn another one.

The 'older' of the two rolled his eyes and went back to roasting his own marshmallow to make s'mores. He was finished before she was, and he stood up and gave her his perfect treat. Smiling, she took it from him and shoved it into her mouth, then taking hers out of the fire and slipping it off the stick.

She took a bite and rolled the gooey mess around on her tongue, enjoying the taste and texture for as long as possible. She went to take another bite, and was amazed to see that as she took another bite, and another, and another that the once white, round puff was not losing any mass. In fact, it seemed as if it was getting bigger! Oh yes, this was her idea of heaven, hanging out with the family she had hardly known, around a beautiful campfire, under a cloudless night sky eating her favorite snack, cooked to perfection that just kept growing! She eagerly shoved the entire thing into her mouth, or as much as she could manage, smearing the sticky stuff all over her face. She moaned with pleasure as she chewed on it, never wanted the moment to end.

But she didn't have very much luck; a mosquito buzzed up to her and started zipping around her face, making that incessant buzzing noise. And the noise of the pesky critter kept getting louder as she attempted to swat it away and continue eating her perfect marshmallow. The buzzing grew louder and louder as she continued to chew and drool over her treat. Then the noise became metallic sounding, and louder and louder until she could no longer ignore it…

She snapped her eyes open and realized that there was a wet spot on her pillow; she had been chewing on it! _Damn,_ she cursed; _it was all a dream._ She sighed and realized the mosquito was still there. Only now the mosquito was in the form of her laptop sitting next to her bed, buzzing is little warning buzz.

Grumbling she tossed her wet pillow aside and wiped the drool from her face.

"What has that baka gotten himself into this time?" She wondered as she rolled over onto her stomach and peered off the edge of the bed. She looked at the screen, and saw that it was her brother's emergency transmitter, sending her an emergency signal and his location.

"Dammit! What did you do?" She cried. She tapped a few keys and tried to find out the nature of his call. All she could determine was that it was an emergency call; patched through to her through the transmitter she had insisted he carry with him everywhere. She had one as well, that sent a signal to him. 

She wasn't very alarmed though, last time he used it he only wanted to get some advice on a ring for his girlfriend. And from what she knew, the girl was now his fiancée. However, she had never met the woman.

But still, she had to check it out; he could really be in trouble. Her tiny feelings of dread and worry for her little brother were heightened when the transmission was suddenly terminated. The transmitter had been destroyed!

Cursing again, she tapped a few more keys and brought up the last location he was at when he sent the signal. She copied some maps, and then, after reciting a few choice words, she grabbed around for a T-shirt and her jeans and started to pack up the laptop.  
She pulled her long, chestnut brown hair into a high ponytail, allowing her almost as long choppy, uneven bangs to hang loose, since they were not long enough to fit into the tie. Throwing her computer into an old backpack and pulling on her most comfortable pair of running shoes, she grabbed her patch on the way out the door. Whatever that moron had done, he was definitely going to hear it from her. Of all the nerve, waking her up in the middle of the night, from a perfectly good dream just for some surely trivial reason. _At least he saved me from eating my pillow._ She thought bitterly. But still, the transmission had been cut, the device destroyed, what were the chances of that happening? What if something had actually gone wrong?

She pushed the thoughts from her head and tried to come up with some explanation that would put her fears at ease. _He probably just dropped it,_ she assured herself. _That's all that happened. He dropped it; there's nothing wrong…_

He had been in the middle of an investigation when it happened. One minute he was questioning some drug addict about someone he had seen in the vicinity, the next thing you know, some rent-a-thugs claiming to be soldiers of some sort had him gagged and hog-tied. He desperately grabbed for the emergency transmitter his sister had given him 'just as a precaution'. He was glad he had accepted it. He just hoped she took him seriously and came to his rescue. It was the only chance he had. He had no way of contacting the other Preventors, so that was the best he could do. But, she would know whom to contact for help.

He watched as the leader of the group approached him and studied him for a moment. He glared at him for all he was worth, but it didn't make much of a difference. The man saw him struggling with the small electronic device, and studied it for a moment too.

"Now, now, what do we have here?" He drawled. He kicked it out of his hands and stepped over to where it had fallen a few feet away.  
"What's this? A transmitter? Very clever, but I'm afraid it wont do you any good." He stepped on the transmitter, watching in fascination as it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. A crooked grin crept onto his face and he looked directly into the young man's eyes. Unexpectedly, he began to laugh. "Nice try, Mr. Maxwell, but we have other plans for you."

They were in the middle of the meeting when the perfect soldier walked in. He looked calmly around the room until he had everyone's complete attention.

"Duo has disappeared." He announced casually. He glanced at the shocked faces of the people sitting around the room.

"What do you mean, he disappeared?" Sally Po asked. 

"Exactly what I just said." Heero sighed. "He's gone, we can't find him or get a hold of him. We suspect that he has been…" Heero paused as he tried to find and appropriate way to say that Duo had been kidnapped. "…Abducted." He said finally.

"Abducted!" Quatre cried. "You mean someone has taken him?" 

"That's what I said." Heero answered monotonously. 

"Where was he last seen?" Trowa asked, equally as toneless. 

"Somewhere in the L6 colony cluster. No one has spoken to him since he arrived there, so we can't be sure exactly which colony he was on."

"Didn't you receive an emergency transmission from him?" Wufei asked.

"Nope, he just…disappeared."

"Well, how do you even know that he's gone if you didn't know where he was in the first place?" Sally pointed out, "Knowing that baka, he probably just forgot to tell us what he was up to."

"No," Heero shook his head. "Duo is gone. If he wasn't, we wouldn't have received a ransom note."

"A ransom!" Quatre cried again. Wufei started to chuckle. "They actually think we'd fall for something so primitive? They won't be able to keep Duo for more than a week."

"Possibly, but as fellow Preventors, it is our duty to look into this. We can't take any chances."

"Well Heero, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were actually worried about the little beast." Sally smirked. Heero chose not to reply. An uncertain silence settled around the group until Quatre finally shattered it.

"So Heero, do you have a plan or not?"

Now Heero grinned and his eye flashed with excitement and he sat in his chair and leaned forward to explain his plan.

Ok everyone, here's the deal. I've got a lot of chapters to this story piled up, but if you want to read them, you need to e-mail me and tell me what you think. I don't care if it's good bad, or just plain mean. I want 10, that's right, TEN reviews otherwise this story's gonna stop right here. Which is too bad for you, because I really think this is up there with my other story 'A Hero's Child' and if you've read that, you know that this fic has _got_ to be really great to even _compare_ to my masterpiece.

So ten reviews guys, its not that hard. If I don't get them, you don't get the rest of this fic, so there!

Look, I'll even make it easy. E-mail me at ashley2323@hotmail.com 

Thank you!


	2. Chapter 1

Well it took you long enough. Here's chapter one, guys Lost Memories By: Ashley2323 Chapter One 

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_This is not how I was planning on spending my weekend. She sighed as she stood in the busy spaceport of the L6-X1997 colony. More affectionately referred to as 'the rat's nest'. The name suited it. The colony was crawling with rats like drug dealers, rapists, and con artists. There were so many criminals and lowlifes that most thugs would not even be noticed. It was ideal for criminal hideouts. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. _

Her brother had never allowed her to come near that colony before, but it never stopped her. He was so damn overprotective of her that it was frustrating.

It was exactly a week after she had first received that emergency transmission from Duo. She had tried calling his house, but his girlfriend, Hilde, said that he had not been home in a few weeks. What worried her even more was that his calls had stopped a week ago, the day he called for her.

Looking at the map, she headed down the dirty, worn down street looking for where Duo was when he called her. Ignoring the suspicious and sometimes appreciative glances from some of the locals, she found her spot easily, and started looking for someone to hassle for information.

She saw a small café huddled on the street corner and decided that was a good place to look for drunks who would tell her anything if she shook them hard enough.

As she approached the café, she saw a nervous homeless guy, holding a bottle in a paper bag. She grinned; she wouldn't even have to go inside to find the scum.

"Hey, you!" She called. The old man looked up and gazed at her with a terrified expression. He was disgustingly thin, wearing quite a few layers of clothing, covered then by a dirty green overcoat. He was balding on top, and the sides of his silvery hair stuck out in the air. He reminded her of an extremely old and sickly Einstein. 

He was so hammered he nearly dropped his bottle of booze as she approached him.

"I need some information, buddy." She grinned maniacally. That look always got them talking. But this guy was too dense to catch it.

"I don't know nothing," He slurred. 

"Did you see a guy here last week?" She asked, ignoring his earlier response. 

"I seen lotsa guys here, bitch."

She glared at him a tried to keep her cool for a little while longer. "I'm looking for a young guy, about twenty years old, really tall. He wears his hair in a long braid. Have you seen him?"

"Maybe," 

_Maybe, that means yes. "Really, well, where did you see him?"_

"I didn't see him, you slut." The guy practically fell over into her arms from the effect of the obviously large amount of alcohol he had consumed. She cringed and threw him to the ground.

"I'm not in the mood to play guessing games." She snapped. "Now tell me where you saw him."

"I didn't see nothing, and I don't know nothing. Now go away you stupid bitch, and give me my booze."

She snarled and kicked him in the ribs, watching with pleasure as he grimaced. She then picked him up by his collar and held him up against the wall. The fear returned to his eyes and he stared at her.

"Tell me what I want to know, or you'll be missing a lot more than just your damn booze."

"I-I told you, I ain't seen nothing!" He stammered.

"Oh, not too sure are you?" She smirked and slammed him against the wall. "I'm only going to ask you nicely one more time. Where is he?"

"I-I dunno. He ran into these guys, and then that was it. I didn't see him again, I swear!" _Finally, I'm getting somewhere. "What kind of guys?"_

The bum avoided her gaze. "Answer me!" She slammed him into the wall again, and he became a fountain of information. "He walked up to one of these guys and started talking to them. They got into this fight, and they dragged him over there behind those crates." He pointed to the road behind her where large crates were lined up and ready to be transported.

"Is that everything?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," the bum nodded frantically. 

"Thanks," She dropped the guy onto the ground and headed across the street to the crates hoping to find something of use over there.

She went behind one of them and saw a splatter of dried blood. It had been smeared around but it was blood, nonetheless. Continuing around through the maze of huge wooden boxes, she saw something else that confirmed that Duo was in definite trouble. She saw the transmitter that she had given him; or at least, what was left of it. It had been crushed into a million little pieces.

Cursing loudly, she squatted down next to the remains and studied them. There was nothing left. It was beyond repair. She sighed and picked up the remains and dropped them into her backpack. Then she went off to 'interview' a few more people for information. Someone had to have seen something around here. It was busy colony after all. 

She went back to the café so see what else she could dig up. If that bum outside had seen him, some of the other regulars must have as well.

She entered the café and picked out a likely target and started her usual 'tough girl' routine. But no matter how many people she talked to, she still got the same story. Duo had supposedly upset some guys in uniforms, and they beat him up and dragged him away. But something didn't fit. Duo was usually friendly, and he wasn't one to go around in a colony known for its criminals and upset people. And from the stories she had gotten, there were no more than three or four guys. Duo should have been able to take care of them. 

She left the little café and went to the truck stop across the street. Maybe someone over there had seen what went on behind the crates. 

As she stepped out the door, she saw that someone else had beaten her to the punch. There was a guy there talking to a truck driver. She stopped and watched him curiously.

He was tall, and was wearing loose dark blue jeans and a green T-shirt. He was muscular and had messy chocolate brown hair. She absently blew the right side of her bangs out of her face, only to have them fall right back into place. The right side of her bangs had been purposefully left to grow longer than the other side, to hide her right eye. 

She watched the guy for a moment, laughing at his method of trying to get these guys to talk. He was flashing something at them, a badge maybe. She couldn't believe it. It was obvious the guy wasn't used to interrogating people on the streets, not in this place anyway. Show them a badge and they clam up.

She was almost rolling on the floor with laughter when he finally gave up and moved on to a more effective method, or not quite. He got angry, grabbed the guy, threw him against the wall, and knocked him out cold. She could hear him grumbling as he started to walk away.

Giggling, she followed him and waited until he was alone to approach him, He had briefly interviewed another truck driver, but still got nothing. At least he didn't punch that one out.

She got to him before he could put his badge away, and saw that he was a Preventor.

_Shit, the Preventors have caught on to Duo's disappearance too. Oh well, maybe we can be friends._

"I don't think you're going to get anything out of anyone around here." She said from behind his back. She watched as he spun around to face her. She couldn't help but chuckle at the confused expression on his face. The poor guy was clueless.

~

Heero spun around at the sound of the female voice behind him. He came face to face with a girl about his age. She had long chestnut brown hair that went to her mid-back. Her bangs were uneven and choppy, and the right side of them was nearly as long as the rest of her hair and fell into her face, hiding her right eye.

He cringed at the amused twinkle in her visible left eye. He glared at her when she chuckled. "What are you talking about?" He asked monotonously. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" She pretended to think for a moment. "I should be asking you that first. How do I know I can trust you? Not to many people around here are very fond of the Preventors." 

"How did you…?"

"I saw the badge. Now are you going to give me a name or not?"

"Are you?"

"You first."

Heero grumbled. "My name is Heero Yuy."

"Ah yes, I know about you." She chuckled again. "I guess I should introduce myself. It's nice to meet you Heero. My name is Scout, Scout Maxwell."

Heero sputtered as he processed the name. "Maxwell?"

"Yeah, you know, my brother talks about you. He said you have absolutely no sense of humor, and you're no fun to pull pranks on because you don't yell and scream like the funny little Chinese dude. What was his name again?"

"Wufei…"

"That's it…well, let me tell ya something Heero. You're going about this all the wrong way. You can't go flashing that badge to criminals. They won't tell you anything. And you can't knock them out either. Then you'll just get a whole bunch of rent-a-thugs on your tail the entire time you're here…"

"Wait a second…you're Duo's SISTER?"

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Scout continued. "And I betcha you're here for the same reason I am."

"And what is that?"

"Don't tell me you're just here to smoke out criminals! Duo is missing! He was kidnapped here, just behind those crates." She pointed towards the roadside where she had found the remains of her transmitter. "So tell me, what do they famous Preventors know so far?"

"That's confidential." Heero growled.

"Huh, fine. If you won't share, I won't share. We can both do this on our own. Tell ya what; first one to find Duo gets a prize. Well, good luck, you'll need it." Scout turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Heero called after her.

Smiling, Scout turned to face him. "Yes?"

"Is there somewhere we can talk about this?" 

Scout smirked and nodded. "Oh yeah, meet me back at that little café in an hour. I have some work I need to do first."

Heero sighed, he was anxious to get the information he needed, but something told him that this girl could be as stubborn as Duo. It was probably best to go along. "Fine," He said. 

Scout nodded and hastily walked away. Heero stared after her for a moment before turning himself and going his own way.


	3. Chapter Two

Lost Memories

By: Ashley2323

Chapter Two 

**__**

Heero stirred his coffee for the third time as he waited for Scout to return. She was already half an hour late. _I'll wait another ten minutes and then I'll go._ He promised himself. He looked up just in time to see Scout walk in with a confident smile flashing across her face. She spotted Heero and sat down across from him. She ordered a coffee before she said anything to him.

"I didn't think you'd show," She admitted.

"I didn't think you would." Heero replied crossly. Scout chuckled. "Oh, don't be such a grouch. I always keep my promises."

"You sound like Duo, always twisting your own words."

"Hun? What do you mean?" Scout blinked. 

"You say you'll be somewhere in an hour…"  
"I showed up!"

"True, but it took you twice as long as you said it would."  
Scout laughed, "So did you get anything?"

Heero shook his head. 

"Well, I told ya you wouldn't, now didn't I?" Scout pushed the long, right side of her bangs behind her ear, and for the first time Heero noticed that she was wearing an eye patch. He tried not to stare, but he couldn't help it.

Scout noticed him staring and smirked. "It was cancer, if that's what you're wondering." She stated.

"What?"

"My eye, that _was_ what you were staring at right? I lost my eye to cancer a long time ago. Nothing gruesome, I promise. Not everyday you see a girl with an eye patch, is it?"

Heero shook his head. "I didn't mean to stare."

"Its OK, I get that a lot. Duo still stares sometimes." She snorted. "And while we're on the topic of Duo, since you haven't found out anything, I guess it's my turn to share." She paused for a moment.

Heero grumbled something. "Are you going to tell me what you know about Duo's disappearance, or not?" 

"Yeah, how did you figure out that he was gone anyway?"

"We got a ransom note." He answered.

At this, Scout burst out laughing. "Like anyone would pay money for Duo!" She giggled, shaking with mirth.

Heero raised an eyebrow at her, "So how did you know?"

She waited until she had stopped laughing to answer. "Oh, that's a good question." She plopped her bag on the table and pulled out a pile of scrap metal. "This used to be a transmitter. I gave it to Duo a while ago, before the EVE wars in case he ever got into trouble and needed my help. Well, he managed to press the little button before he was taken, and that led me here. After that, I just questioned a few people. From what I could piece together, Duo was down here in the rat's nest, for reasons unknown, and got into a bit of a squabble with unidentified soldiers. They beat him up behind those crate across the street there, and then just took off."

"Took off to where?"

Scout shrugged. "Like I said, that's it so far."

"How did you get all that out of these people? They wouldn't tell _me a thing."_

"That's just because you don't know how to interrogate thugs. They won't talk to anyone in a uniform."

Heero grumbled again and took a long sip of his coffee. 

"So how did you get down here?"

"Systematic colony checks." Heero shrugged.

"And it worked?"

"Apparently." He sighed. How could he not get anything out of them? Oh well, he was never one to have a lot of patience anyway. But still…maybe he was losing his touch…

"Maybe you are," Scout shrugged. Heero was shocked; he hadn't realized he had spoken that out loud.

"I heard you were the perfect soldier. But I guess after being tied down to that pacifist for so long, you'd have to lose your touch. It just wouldn't work otherwise. Unless of course Miss Relena is going to start rolling through the Sank Kingdom in a stolen tank, driving through department stores." She broke out into another hysterical fit of laughter. Heero had to admit, it was a funny thought but he wasn't about to start laughing. "I'm not tied down to anyone." He growled.

"Whatever…" Scout sighed. She subdued her laughter long enough to gulp down the last of her coffee. She stared into her cup disgustedly and sighed. "Well, I best be going now." She quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and dropped it on the table in front of him.

"Keep in touch," She said, "I many need your help, believe it or not."

Heero watched her go and then picked up the paper she left. On it was an address on Earth and a phone number. He glared at the numbers on the page and stuffed it into his pocket. It may be a good idea to keep in touch with her; after all, she had already proven herself more than capable of finding Duo on her own.

Duo sat against the cold concrete walls of his prison and sighed deeply for the umpteenth time that day. He gingerly rubbed his sore arm again and inspected the damage done to his body. He had done that several times as well. It was as if he expected to find something new there.

He couldn't believe what his harmless little search had led him to. First he gets a tip about his subject, and it takes him to the rat's nest. He should have caught on right then, but of course he was too excited so he didn't.

Naturally once he met his contacts he realized it was some sort of deception. He was met by a small group of military personnel, but they weren't from any military organization that he knew of. Then he made the mistake of pissing them off; obviously the guys didn't appreciate back talk. But Duo had this sneaking suspicion that they had not fought fairly. He should have been able to handle them, but when the fight broke out, their blows seemed to do more damage then they should have.

Grumbling about how they had cheated somehow, he ran his hands through his hair to see if they had left anything. They hadn't of course. They had undone his braid and pulled out anything he kept in there. They must have done their homework on him.

Duo sighed and dropped his head back against the wall. He could think of at least eight people who were going to give him a tongue lashing once he got back and he wasn't looking forward to any of them. He winced; those guys would probably put him through more pain than these Oz-wanna-be losers had. 

  


Ace Stone strolled leisurely through the campus early Saturday morning. His mane of shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into its usual low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was clean and well dressed, as usual, and he was wearing a professionally tailored suit, the norm for the popular university professor. The only difference in his usual tidy appearance was the faint stubble along his jaw. He never shaved on Saturdays.

"Good morning Professor Stone," One of his students greeted him. Ace smiled and nodded at the girl and continued on his way. He never stopped to talk with them, especially his female students. He knew very well that just about every single one of them had a crush on him.

He pushed his deep purple shades further up on his nose and shoved his hands into the dark leather trench coat he almost never took off. The shades and coat had become his trademark items around the school.

He breathed in the cool air and headed into town. He loved teaching at Harvard, but sometimes he just needed to get away.

Just as he was nearing the front gates of the campus, he thought he heard something behind him. The professor stopped and looked around for the source of the odd noise. He paused for a moment and then dismissed the noise as a squirrel or something else. He started to walk again when he heard a more distinct, less natural sound. Now he stopped completely and turned his head. He saw a flash of something behind a tree and took a tentative step towards it.

He heard a click from behind him and he froze. He turned his head only slightly and saw a man standing behind him with a gun to his head. The man smirked at Ace, and Ace sighed, thinking he was only a common thug looking for money. Ace raised his hands above his head.

"Listen buddy, I don't wanna cause any trouble." He sighed. He knew the routine. He had been mugged more than once. 

"That's good, because neither do we…" The man stated.

"We?" 

Another guy stepped out from the cover of the trees, also holding his gun level to Ace's head. Ace sighed, they were smarter muggers than most, but something else seemed different. It wasn't their clothes; they were dressed in casual civilian clothing, nothing odd there, and their guns were standard. It was the way they spoke to him and carried themselves that told him that something was not as it seemed.

Ace had long since learned to trust his premonitions. He carefully planned out his attack as the guys continued to snicker.

"OK, pal, hand over all your money." The first man snarled. Ace nodded and reached for his wallet, while keeping an eye on his two attackers. He handed it to the man in front of him, and watched in amazement as he tossed it in the air and fired, shredding it into pieces.

Ace blinked; well, at least he knew they weren't after money. But what else was he good for? Maybe they wanted to know about his field of expertise at Harvard. But they didn't look like the intellectual type. They were probably just flunkies hired by someone.  
"Well, well, well, isn't this just perfect." The second guy snickered. "We've got _the_ Ace Stone eating out of our hands. Won't the boss be proud of us? You know he's been lookin' for you guys for a long time now…"  
"Shut up!" The first one snapped. He too laughed as he looked at Ace still standing with his hands in the air. 

Ace had no idea what they were talking about. This was obviously something more sinister than just a common mugging. But why would anyone be looking for him? He decided he didn't want to find out. As the two men continued to talk nonsense at him, he was preparing his attack. He found the right moment when one of them started to pull out shackles.

He quickly spun around and kicked the man behind him in the head.

"Oh no you don't!" The other one screamed. He lunged at Ace and punched him in the stomach. Ace wheeled over in pain.

_This isn't right,_ He thought, _why did it hurt so much? That punch should not have caused him to stop breathing. The pain was so intense that he nearly screamed with the pain. It was really weird that such a small man could cause him that much pain, since Ace regularly worked out in intensive training programs._

The other one sprang back and caught his shoulder and Ace instantly felt it shatter. The pain seemed to spread and pulse through his entire body. This time he did cry out with the pain and he fell over. The men then delivered blows to his stomach and ribs until he was nearly unconscious. Then he felt them tying his hands behind his back. The two picked him up and dragged him to the road, where they threw him into the back of a black van and sped off.**__**


	4. Chapter Three

Lost Memories

**_By: Ashley2323_**

**__**

Chapter Three 

The abduction of Ace Stone was all over the news on Monday. The TV reporters were all over the story. 

"Our special report this evening, a popular Harvard professor disappeared sometime last Saturday. His disappearance was discovered this morning when he failed to show up for his morning class. Ace Stone was last seen early Saturday morning on campus. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a suspicious black, full-sized van in the area around the time of his abduction. If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact your local authorities." The report then went on to interview a few of his students and flashed a picture on the screen.  
~  
Heero had not been paying attention to the report until he saw the picture. "Strange," He murmured, "It can't be though," He shrugged it off as a coincidence.

~

The news was playing on the TV screen when Scout arrived back home. She looked up when she heard the name 'Ace Stone' and saw his picture. She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no! Ace!" There was no doubt in her mind as to who the man was. "But how did they find you before we did?"

She quickly grabbed her coat again and dashed back out of her house. She didn't have time anymore. These guys were moving too quickly. But she didn't even know who they were! And what was their interest in them? If she was correct then she was next on their list. 

She needed to get help, and quickly, so she called on the only person she could think of. She went to Heero Yuy at the Preventor Headquarters.

"Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I wanna go ta bed…" Duo slurred as he stared up at the ceiling in his cell. His vision was blurring and for a while now he had been coughing up blood. "Damn," He had cursed when he discovered the fact. "Internal bleeding, not good." He could feel himself losing his grasp on consciousness. He slumped over against the corner wall, and let his eyes close slowly. 

_No Duo, don't fall asleep now,_ He warned himself. "It is definitely not a good idea to fall asleep now…" He shook his head and tried to focus his eyes on something to keep him awake. But there was absolutely nothing inside the cell. He stared at the door and watched through the tiny barred window as the guard scratched his head and resumed his position.

"Interesting enough," Duo muttered. Maybe if he kept watching the guard, waiting for the next time he would move, he would be able to keep himself awake, and alive, for a bit longer. 

After an hour or so, and twelve head-scratches later, something interesting finally happened.

He heard voices down the hallway and watched curiously as a few other guards dragged another man into the cell next to him. "Well," he snickered, "They're starting a collection." 

The guard watched and then suddenly slapped his hand to his forehead in a salute. "Sir!" He said quickly. A man who was out of Duo's view started talking, "How is the prisoner?" He asked sharply.

"He's safely secured in his cell Sir. Awaiting further orders."

"Is he dead?"

"Uh…" The guard didn't sound too sure. "No Sir,"

"Are you sure?" the man snorted. He peeked into the cell and saw Duo's blood all over the place. Duo struggled to see his face, but with his blurred vision and the light silhouetting his face, it was impossible.

"You idiot! I told you not to let him die! You were supposed to make sure of that!"

The guard cowered in front of his superior. "I…I…" 

"Never mind that now! I'll have someone more competent take care of the prisoners. Now make yourself useful and fetch a doctor!"

"Yes Sir!" The man saluted again before running off. Duo could hear the superior officer sighing before he finally blacked out. 

  


"You're saying that Duo has a _sister_?" Quatre cried as Heero filled the rest of the pilots in on his trip to 'the rat's nest'.  
Heero nodded slowly.

"How can you be sure this woman is who she says she is?" Trowa asked quietly.

Heero shrugged. "I have a feeling about her. She didn't sound like she was lying to me. She knew all about Duo, about us, and even knew where to find him."

"She did her homework," Wufei snorted, "It's not that hard to figure out what Duo is like and who his friends are. There are a million resources out there…"  
"Also," Heero cut Wufei off in the middle of his sentence. "She supplied a transmitter, or what was left of it, which she claims Duo called her from."

"Are you sure you can trust this girl?" Sally Po questioned.

Heero nodded, "I'm positive."

Wufei looked as if he was starting to believe, but wasn't completely convinced. 

"Not to mention," Heero continued, "That she looks almost exactly like him…"  
"Coincidence," Wufei muttered. Heero shot a glare in the Chinese pilot's direction and he shut up.

"So what do we do now? What kind of information did she give you?" Quatre sighed.

"Nothing substantial, just that Duo was abducted by someone guys in some sort of military."

"The military?" Sally's eyebrows rose in question.

Heero nodded.

"What was he doing on that run-down excuse for a colony anyway?" Wufei wondered.

"Wouldn't we all like to know?" A female voice echoed. The five shocked Preventors turned quickly and faced the door.

There, standing in the doorway, was Scout. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and her uneven bangs skillfully hid the eye patch. In her hand she held the leash to a rather _large cat, or more precisely, a tiger. _

Heero looked at the girl and furrowed his eyebrows together in a frown.

"How the hell did you get in here?" He snapped.

"Why hello to you too," She snickered. "You know, for a military organization that eats up all my tax dollars every year, your security really sucks." She looked down at her pet and scratched him behind his ears. The tiger growled lazily and let himself into the room and lay down at Quatre's feet.

The blonde man paled considerably and Scout only laughed at him.

"I take it this is the woman who claims to be related to that braided baka?" Wufei growled.

"You _have to be Wufei."_

Wufei snorted and averted his eyes from the woman. 

"Is uh…this thing safe?" Quatre wondered, trying to move his feet from underneath the heavy cat's body.

Scout chuckled, "He's old and harmless" She assured him. Quatre breathed an audible sigh of relief. 

"What are you doing here?" Heero glared at her.

"Actually," She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. A nervous habit that both she and Duo shared. "I need a bit of help."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," She chuckled. "But there are some things you might want to know first."

"I thought you didn't want our help."

"Screw that, I'm in deep shit now. Mind if I sit down?" She looked at the seat next to Trowa. Trowa shrugged and Scout happily took a seat and dropped her things on the table. "Did any of you guys see that report on the missing university professor?"

Sally nodded, "Yeah I saw it." 

"What does that have to do with you, or Duo for that matter?" Trowa asked. 

"Well, it's a long story actually. You guys might wanna sit down."

All but Wufei obliged and Scout sat back as she started her story.

"This guy, this professor, has a lot to do with Duo and I. You see, I'm positive that he's our brother that we've been searching for since we were very young." 

"Oh great," Wufei moaned, "Even _more _Maxwells."

"Actually Wu-man, he's not a Maxwell. His last name is Stone apparently. Duo was looking for him when he was kidnapped."  

"And since Duo and now your other brother have been kidnapped, you think you're next in line?" Heero finished for her.

"Exactly,"

"How did these guys find him if you and Duo weren't able to all this time?"

Scout shrugged, "That's what I wanted to figure out. I mean why would anyone come after us anyway? It confuses the shit outta me. We all live our own lives. Ace was a _teacher for crying out loud!"_

"The two siblings so far…" Sally sighed, "I don't know if this is just coincidence or something else."

Scout nodded sadly and stared at her old backpack.

"So I guess you guys know my dilemma now…"

"Right, I'll see to getting you some protection right away, Miss Scout." Quatre stood up, waking the tiger from its sleep. The tiger growled at Quatre and then rested its head on its giant paws once again. 

"Thanks a lot, Quatre, right?"

Quatre nodded and carefully stepped over the sleeping cat. The tiger hardly even looked up.

"Would you like me to find a place to keep your uh…pet too?"

"That'd be great, thanks." Quatre seemed relieved to finally be able to get away from the huge cat and he hurried out of the room.

"I wonder what's up with him?" Scout sighed. 

~~~

The Preventors were nice enough to provide Scout with a room in their headquarters, and they sent Kalil, the tiger, to another area of the base. She looked at the roomy quarters and whistled. No wonder Duo liked working for the Preventors.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else you'd like to tell us?"

Scout spun around and faced Heero.

"Are you suggesting that I was lying to you?" She snapped.

"I'm suggesting that you have been withholding information from us." Heero stated.

"Listen Heero, I'm not a liar. I want to find my brother, brothers, as much as you do."

"So that's all you know?"

"That's right, these guys are tough, even for me."

"So how _did you get past the security?"_

"Oh, I had a lot of help from Kalil."

"Your pet?"

"Now, I would hardly call him a pet. He's more like a…a customer."

Heero raised his eyebrows at her. "What exactly do you do?"

"I'm a researcher in endangered species, and I run a research center up in Winnipeg."

"An animal researcher and you can get past the toughest security in the world?"

"I've gotten through tougher, but that was back in Oz's day. Good security like that is hard to find. I enjoyed the challenge. If I'm going to help my brother, I have to brush up on my skills."

"Skills?"

"Hacking, espionage, mobile suit repair, infiltration, your basic terrorist skills. You know what I'm talking about don't you?"

Heero nodded, "Is that what you did during the war?"

"Basically," she shrugged, "I usually just got Duo out of jams while he was fighting. I got him information, weapons, new parts, anything he needed."

Heero just looked at her.

"What, you don't actually think Duo could find time to do all that by himself do you? He's not that organized."

"He sure had me fooled. He knew what he was doing."

"Of course he did, he had to. But he also needed his big sister to help him out and break him out of prison every once in a while."

"I thought you were twins,"

"Triplets." She corrected him. "We are, but one of us had to come out first. It's an ongoing joke Duo and I have. I call him little brother, he calls me baby sister."

"Why didn't he ever mention you before?"

Now Scout laughed. "I'm his best kept secret. He was worried about me. He's afraid people would come after me if they knew I was connected to a Gundam pilot."

"Even us?"

"He's very careful. He's got big brother syndrome, I think."

Heero sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "So you don't have any more information we might need?"

Scout shook her head. "Sorry, I wish I could be of more help. But I was just about to sit down and start looking for him. I'll tell you if I strike a lead."

Heero nodded and left without a word. Scout watched him go with a smile on her face. "Wow," she said aloud, "Duo sure does have some cute friends."**__**


	5. Chapter Four

Lost Memories

By: Ashley2323

  


**_Chapter Four_**

**__**

"Here's something," Scout muttered to herself. "Witnesses in Ace's kidnapping." She pulled up files of a few civilians. They looked average enough. She checked out the police reports they filed and noticed something interesting. "What the…" She studied them more carefully. All three witnesses said _exactly the same thing. "Since when does that happen?" It could have been a mere coincidence, but Scout didn't believe in such a thing. Just to make sure, she pulled up the police records of all three witnesses._

She didn't really find anything more than traffic tickets and nights in the drunk tank for the first two, but the third caught her attention.

He was a tall, bald man, with a thick neck and broad shoulders. He called himself Jonas Smith, an obvious alias. He looked like a bodybuilder. She found absolutely nothing on him. No parking tickets, no court hearings, nothing. The man was a saint; Scout fund that hard to believe. She started more intensive research. It took her only ten minutes to catch a lead. 

"Look at this!" Scout cried happily as she slammed a pile of printouts in front of Heero.

"What?"

"I've got three phony witnesses to Ace's kidnapping."

"How can you be sure?"

"Look at this," She said as she tucked her bangs behind her ear. "All three of them told the police the exact same thing."

"So?"

"So! Don't you find that a bit odd? Since when do witnesses all tell the _same stories? And not only that, but they're obviously completely made up."_

Heero gave her a questioning look. 

"See here? They all told the police that they saw the men rob Ace and knock him out in the process. Then they dragged him behind some trees where they couldn't see them. Then a few minutes later, 'about four minutes' according to the witnesses, they reappeared and got into the van and drove off."

"So where was Ace?"

"Exactly. If someone really _is_ after us, then why wouldn't they take Ace with them? It doesn't make sense."

"Hmm," Heero was thoughtful. "So do you know where to find them?"

"Not yet, but I thought you could use this information. This guy here who looks like Mr. Clean, was using an alias when he filed the police report. His real name is Calvin Hunter, and he's got a record four miles long."

Heero took the papers from her and studied them. "How did you get all this?" He asked.

Scout grinned. "Impressed aren't ya? I figured we were looking at it from the wrong angel. We couldn't find anything through Duo, so I figured we should work through Ace."

Heero nodded. "I'll check it out. Keep it up."

"Will do," Scout saluted. She turned and stalked back to her room to keep up with her research.

Duo was keeping busy. Since they had taken him to the hospital ward he had been studying their routines of security. There was less security in the hospital ward, and it shouldn't be too hard to get out.  He was almost ready to make his move. All he had to do was work out his plan. He watched as the nurse walked past the door, the same way she always did. Soon the guards would change, and he could act. He waited and watched as the noise of switching shifts started.

Grinning, Duo crept out of his hospital bed and expertly picked the lock. He opened the door and swung viciously at the two guards. He watched with satisfaction as they both fell to the floor. He dragged them inside, took one of the uniforms and their weapons. He left the room, fixing his cap, and started to walk. He tried to guess that general direction of the hanger. He could steal a mobile suit and get a message to Heero and Scout. They would be able to help him. He wondered how they would get along once they met. He chuckled. They definitely had clashing personalities. But then again, so did he and Heero, and they were best friends. 

He turned a corner and ran into a man wearing officer's stars.

"Soldier! Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, down to the hanger, sir," Duo said with a salute. 

"What are you talking about? The hanger is the other way!"

"Oh, sorry, I just got transferred here."

"No you didn't, you're the prisoner!" The officer hissed. He pulled his gun out and Duo sprang into action. 

"Hiya!" He cried as he hit the officer with the but of his gun. He turned to run, but another group of soldiers closed him in. Duo cursed and turned around but he was surrounded. He had no choice but to surrender. He dropped his gun and raised his hands in the air. A couple of young soldiers grabbed him and cuffed his hands behind his back. They roughly pushed him back to his cold cell. Duo grumbled and screamed at them as they did so. It was no use, he knew that, but he felt like making a scene. He would never go quietly. 

The guards tossed him into his cell, and he jumped up and yelled at them some more. "You just wait until my buddies get here! You'll never know what hit ya!"

"Yeah, yeah," The guards laughed. "Just like those morons, always insisting that someone will come for them." The other guard laughed and they left. Duo grumbled to himself and sat down in his cell. He lay down and propped his feet up against the wall. Then, out of sheer boredom and frustration, he began to kick it. He would have to come up with another way to get out.

~

Ace listened to the steady kicking until he was nearly going nuts. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore. He got up, walked to the other side of his cell and kicked the wall back. As if by magic, the noise stopped. Ace grinned and walked back over to his cot. But just as he got there, it started again. Ace growled in frustration and slammed his fist into the wall. "Will you knock it off!" He screamed.

The guy on the other side laughed loudly. 

"You know, there are some of us here who aren't mentally deteriorated!" 

"Ouch, that wasn't necessary!" the guy called. "Don't tell me you're just going to roll over and let them keep you here?"

"What does that have to do with you banging on the wall?"

"Everything! I'm not just pissing you off, I'm pissing them off too!"

Ace groaned. "Well, just shut up for a while so I can sleep."

"I couldn't do that…"

"And why not?"

"Because, they might try to kill you while you're asleep."

Ace snorted and tried to ignore the man as he dropped back down onto his cot and pulled the pillow over his head. The banging had started again. Ace grit his teeth and waited, and waited, and waited. But still the annoying guy on the other side of the wall would not stop. Eventually though, he got used to it and fell into a restless sleep.

Scout looked at the address on the page and up at the old house in front of her. "Well," She sighed, "This is it…" she stepped up to the door and knocked.

The door swung open and she came face to face with her Mr. Clean, Calvin Hunter.

"Mr. Hunter?" she asked.

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"I'm here on behalf of Mr. Ace Stone." She pushed her fake glasses up on her nose and smiled sweetly. "I'm the attorney in charge of the prosecution in this case."

"What, they caught the guy already?" Hunter paled a bit.

"We have a suspect in custody, but we would like your cooperation with a testimony."

"All right…" Calvin Hunter sighed and let her in.

"Thank you Mr. Hunter." She walked past him into the dusty home and quickly made sure no one else was there. She grabbed her gun and spun around, bringing the gun level with his eyes. Calvin stared at it, dumbfounded.  
"You're not a…"

"Listen to me, Mr. Hunter, I know you lied to the police, but you're not going to lie to me, now are you?"

Calvin only glared at her.

"Oh, now it's too bad you're such a moron. You know how I know for sure now that you were lying? Mistake number one, Calvin Hunter didn't tell the police anything, Jonas Smith did, now didn't he?"

Calvin's jaw dropped. The guy was not high up on the intelligence scale. "Now here's what I want to know. Who hired you to give the police a phony statement?"  
"I…I dunno…" Calvin stuttered.

"Yes you do," Scout hissed. "Tell me who it is and where I can find him. Are you still working for him?"

"I swear it lady…" Calvin suddenly reached behind him and grabbed a metal crowbar from the table. He swung it at her and just barely missed her head, but knocked the gun out of her hand. Scout glared at him but was not quite ready to back down yet. She got ready to fight him, even though he was well over twice her size. She dodged another blow and kicked him in the head. Calvin stumbled backwards but managed to regain his balance in time to swing at her once again, this time catching her in her good eye.  Scout cursed and stumbled and Calvin punched her again, this time sending her reeling into the table. Scout watched, terrified and actually feeling helpless as he picked her up by the collar and brought her to her feet.

"You know, it's been a long time since a woman's come calling at my door, maybe you and me could have a little fun."

Scout gathered the last of her energy to spit in his face. Calvin growled and raised his fist to punch her. Scout knew this one would knock her out, and then who knew what would happen. She closed her eyes and waited, but the blow never came. Instead, Calvin made a strange noise and released his grip on her. Scout opened her good eye, which was now swelling to the size of a peach, to see what was going on.

She saw Calvin slide to the ground, and behind him stood a very smug-looking Heero Yuy.

"What are you doing here?" Scout gasped. 

"I followed you." Heero answered.

"Why?"

"Well, don't you think that's it's a good thing I did?"

Scout snorted and looked away. "I will not dignify that with an answer."

Heero smirked and stepped up to her. "Better take a look at that," He said, reaching for her black eye. Scout flinched a bit as he brushed his fingers against the purple skin.

"Relax, I'm going to get you some ice." Heero said. He disappeared into the next room for a moment and came back with an ice pack to control the swelling.

"Did you get anything out of him?" Heero asked as he applied the pack.

"Not really, but I know _someone_ hired him to go after Ace. I don't think he knew that I'm his sister though."

"Well good, what do you think we should do with him?" Heero cocked his head in the direction of the unconscious man.

Scout looked up at him and smirked.

  


**__**


End file.
